Chapter Text
“Severus, I doubt this will work, just give it up. I can always ask someone else.” Gilderoy’s voice sounded almost panicked as he watched his manservant try to get the extravagant chaise lounge into his room.
Severus grunted as he started to flip the large piece of furniture onto its side for the fifth time only to earn another pained gasp from the prince standing far too close behind him. “It would fit if you just allowed me to flip it. It’s too wide to fit through the door, and if it’s flipped to the side you intend to put to the wall you would never even be able to see if any of the fabric is scuffed.”
“So now you admit that the fabric might get scuffed, earlier you promised it would not. Plus how do you even know where I will want it once it is in the room?” The prince placed both of his hands on his hips, only to cross them over his chest and turn away when Severus turned around to look- more like scowl- at him.
“Because, you pompous ass, I have rearranged this room for you at least a million times, and every time you end up deciding you like things just the way they were before.” Gilderoy scoffed but he didn’t argue with the man as he went back to trying to move the furniture into the room the way Gilderoy wanted it done. “Why are you even putting this back in your room anyway? I thought you said it was uncomfortable the last time.”
Gilderoy huffed again and if Severus didn’t find the prince so cute all of the time he would probably be annoyed by how many times he had made noises today rather than answered his questions. “Fine, I guess I will just have to find out later what special event is happening today. You are quite pigheaded when you want to be.”
Gilderoy didn’t say anything, he didn’t even protest when Severus finally gave up and flipped the lounge onto its side again to get it into the room. He knew something was off when he didn’t hear the prince try to micromanage exactly where he put the furniture. When the dark blue chaise lounge had been placed under the window Severus promptly sat on it, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Don’t you dare ask me to move this thing again. You’ll have to get some of those knights you fawn over to do it.”
“That sounds like an excellent idea. I’ll call them up to rearrange the room, you are dismissed.” Gilderoy sat at the vanity on the opposite wall, making a point to scowl as he brushed his golden hair, much more aggressively than normal. “I’m sure they wouldn’t call me a pig.”
The prince had never dismissed him before. Severus stood up immediately and walked over to the vanity table, noticing the glare he received in the mirror before Gilderoy put the brush down on the table, not in its usual place, and stood abruptly to put space between himself and the dark-haired man. Severus fixed it quickly and followed after the prince, panic in his voice when he spoke again.
“Gilderoy, what did I do? Was it the lounge? I promise it isn’t scuffed, you can check.” He had never been so worried in all his life that the prince might hate him. Maybe he was doing too well at deflecting his affections today. When the prince didn’t answer him Severus reached out and took his hand, kneeling as he would have in front of any other member of the royal family. “Your Highness, I have upset you and for that, I apologize. Please tell me what it is I have done wrong so I may correct my offense.”
Gilderoy was glad Severus had his head bowed when he turned to look at the man kneeling in front of him. The sight and formality made a dark blush color his cheeks. Despite their titles the two men rarely ever interacted with each other formally in private, so this apology was obviously genuine. Then he remembered why he was upset and pulled his hand back to his chest. “You called me a pig earlier in the hallway for simply wanting the chaise lounge moved without ruining it. What that has to do with my weight I have no idea, but you hurt my feelings nonetheless. You know how I feel about comments on my appearance, my mother has chastised me since birth for every flaw I have. You promised me years ago, when you started serving me, that you would never stoop as low as she does, especially when she comments on my weight.” As childish as he thought it was he felt tears begin to rim his eyes.
The Queen had always teased Gilderoy about his appearance. For many years before Severus had started to fill his head with thoughts that he was beautiful, the prince struggled with disordered eating and he still often struggled with liking his appearance unless
Severus was the one to help him get ready. As much as they bickered about his eating habits, the prince was thankful and in the last year, he had started to eat more regularly.
When Severus rose to his feet Gilderoy had silently started to cry, the expression on his face one the servant had never seen before. He knew the prince’s feelings were truly hurt “Gilderoy, no, that’s not what I meant at all. I only meant you were stubborn about the lounge. I called you pigheaded. Stubborn, obstinate. Never would I compare you to a pig. You may be as loud as one, but you are far more lovely in every way, I promise.” Severus pulled the prince into a hug, rubbing his back and pressing a soft kiss to his golden hair.
The kiss, as well as their momentary closeness, seemed to calm Gilderoy down as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “Sorry, I’m just a little stressed. Lily is coming and I know how much you fancy her. I don't know how she’ll have a moment to breathe with you taking up all of her time. And you are so charming she will probably run off and elope with you, then I’ll have one less cousin and manservant.”
“I've already told you, we do not share more than friendly affection each other, she is nice to me because she is your cousin and I am your servant. Plus I thought I told you the last time she visited that I like men, exclusively men.”
Severus was glad to already see Gilderoy’s smile returning as they joked about the fake relationship the prince had been enthralled with the first time he had seen the two interact. More importantly, he was happy to see that the prince was back to his usual commanding self and as he began to dictate where all of the furniture in the room should go.
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By the time Severus had moved every item of furniture in the rather large room at least once he was sweating and his entire body ached. If anyone else had been using such a domineering tone with him Severus would have already snapped at them, but something about the way Gilderoy sounded when he was giving orders made Severus weak in the knees. He would move every object in the room without protest as long as the prince talked to him like that. The crush had always been silly and although Severus knew nothing would ever come of it he still didn’t stop fantasizing that the man would return his feelings. It was during one of these absentminded fantasies about when exactly Gilderoy could be bossing him around that Severus had pushed the chaise lounge much too forcefully against the stone wall.
The prince shrieked and demanded that the lounge be pulled away from the wall. Severus obeyed and the moment of fury that flashed in the prince’s eyes should really not have been that attractive. Gilderoy seemed to almost charge at him, causing Severus to quickly back up until he fell onto the wretched chaise lounge with the angelic face quickly appearing above him.
“You- you-” Gilderoy let out a frustrated little scream and jabbed his finger into the now sitting man's chest. “Words can not even describe what a clumsy idiot you are! You scratched the velvet and Lily is coming tomorrow morning. How on earth are we supposed to fix it before she gets here? She's the one who bought me this stupid lounge in the first place.” When Gilderoy was stressed like this he angered more easily and lost all regard for personal space. For a brief moment, their noses touched before he made another frustrated noise and stormed off to begin pacing at the foot of his bed.
Severus’ breath faltered but he quickly collected himself and started to move the lounge again, already forming a solution. “We’ll put it back where it was originally and I’ll fix it tomorrow when I get back. She is only supposed to stay for a night anyway and if it’s facing the wall there is no way she will notice.” His voice and face were expressionless but in his mind, he was as breathless and excited as if they had just kissed for the first time. Gilderoy seemed to like the idea, or at least that he could watch Severus continue moving furniture. The prince moved to lie on his bed as he watched the furniture being moved back to where it originally was with no protest.
“Is everything right?” A few strands of Severus’s black hair were stuck to his forehead with sweat, but he pushed them back and wiped the moisture from his forehead as Gilderoy nodded. “Good, it’s late. You need to bathe and get ready to sleep since tomorrow will be so eventful.”
Gilderoy nodded and stretched before getting up from his bed. “Fine. Run me a bath then? I’m tired. I can get my clothes ready.”
Severus simply nodded and went to the attached bathroom to start preparing the bathtub. Pampering Gilderoy like this was probably the only thing in the world he liked more than when the man ordered him around. He took his time getting the water temperature perfect and adding the scented soaps, salts, and oils that he had made for the prince specifically. If he wasn't serving Gilderoy, Severus had often dreamed of making and selling the different scented products he had perfected over the years. He was happy to share his small talent with the prince, especially when he knew it made Gilderoy so happy. Gilderoy entered the bathroom in a deep violet dressing robe and his shoulders visibly relaxed when he smelled the scents Severus had selected mixing in the air.
“When do you find the time to come up with these things Sev? Is that chrysanthemum?” He slipped his robe off of his shoulders, handing it to Severus as he slid into the perfectly warm water.
“Yes, and violet. I know you said you liked the violet scent the last time I used it, so I tried to compliment it more this time around. Is it too overwhelmed by the chrysanthemum?” Severus wrung his hands together but Gilderoy simply shook his head and relaxed the rest of the way into the bath.
“It’s perfect.”
Severus smiled and sat on the short stool that he always occupied when Gilderoy took his baths. Every night Gilderoy would say he was tired, and Severus would greedily accept and cherish the feeling of his fingers disappearing into the prince’s gorgeously golden hair. As much as Severus loved to pamper his prince, he knew Gilderoy selfishly liked the pampering as well.
The remainder of the bath passed quietly, as always. The only sounds were the moving water and Gilderoy’s sighs of satisfaction as Severus’ greedy hands inevitably made their may from the prince's hair to his tense shoulders. When the water finally began to get cold Gilderoy sighed again and requested a towel which Severus dutifully retrieved.
“I’ll go get the room ready.” It was useless since the room was always ready, but they both knew it was too awkward when they both stayed in the bathroom as Gilderoy dried himself.
Severus admired the clothes Gilderoy had selected for himself to sleep in; a satin-weave silk set in a matching violet to his dressing robe. Gilderoy sat, expectantly, at his vanity and watched Severus through the mirror as he approached and continued their meticulous routine by drying and brushing the prince's hair. As fine as the strands of golden hair were, it was insanely thick and reached just below his shoulder blades. Severus took care of every single strand of the hair, slowly braiding it all into two French braids as he had done for all the years he served Gilderoy. Now, five years later, they were much neater, but when he had started they had always been messy, with stray hairs flying out at odd angles. Gilderoy had never gotten upset like Severus expected him to, and in fact, he always seemed to admire the braids and his face in the mirror when Severus finished.
When all of Gilderoy’s hair was dried, brushed, and braided, Severus helped him get dressed. This was another task that the prince always claimed he was too tired for, but unlike the other tasks, Severus still couldn’t understand why Gilderoy insisted on this one every time he needed to change his clothes. At first, seeing the prince in all of his angelic nudity had been flustering and not good for him at all, but now he understood that this activity, while intimate, was no more intimate than all of the other pampering Gilderoy expected before bed. Severus let a small smile play on his lips as Gilderoy closed his eyes, standing perfectly still, as the buttons on his nightshirt were being done up. He left the top three pearlescent buttons undone since the prince claimed he felt like he was suffocating when they were up to his neck.
Severus watched Gilderoy for a moment with his hands pressed gently on the prince’s violet-covered chest, his eyes still closed and his breathing slow and relaxed. This was what Severus loved the most. He was so relaxed and peaceful just before he got into bed and went to sleep, and Severus imagined that this is what Gilderoy would look like when he was sleeping, so perfectly put together and beautiful. He removed his hands from the man’s chest and blue eyes fluttered open at the loss of contact.
“Goodnight Your Highness.” Despite their lack of formality Severus always wished him a good night this way, mainly to see the teasing smile that graced the prince’s face at the title.
“Goodnight Severus. Dream of me fondly.” Gilderoy winked and turned to get into his bed.
Despite their consistency in routine, that one sentence always caused Severus' heart to stutter. He watched the prince for as long as he could before he turned and went to his room to get himself bathed and ready for bed so he could dutifully begin dreaming of the prince.
Tonight he was already sure his dreams would be much more lustful than usual as he slipped into the tepid bath water, using the scents he had rejected for Gilderoy and imagining his own hands were the prince’s as he washed and dressed himself.